IDEA Public Schools Provides Advanced Placement Classes for All Students

ACMB is happy to partner with IDEA Public Schools to share information on their Advanced Placement program.

The vision of the IDEA Public Schools’ college preparatory program is for every student at IDEA to graduate from high school ready to succeed in college. Students take a rigorous course load of essential core classes, as well as elective classes, which includes a course that teaches students the ins-and-outs of applying to college, financial aid, scholarships, writing statements-of-purpose, and more.

At IDEA, students begin taking pre-Advancement Placement (AP) courses as early as sixth grade. This pre-AP course sequence prepares students to read, write, and think like an AP student. As part of IDEA’s AP for All initiative, each student is required to take at least 11 AP courses as part of their core curriculum in high school. This initiative provides every student with access to rigorous and challenging coursework that prepares them for college and affords them the opportunity to earn college credit before they even graduate from high school.

Throughout the country, AP courses are offered at many high schools, but they are not always provided for every student.

IDEA’s mission is to prepare every student for success to and through college. This means that all of our students deserve access to rigorous, college preparatory experiences that will prepare them to succeed in their college courses.

“Even though my AP classes are tough, I know they are preparing me for college,” said Gabriela Pardo, a ninth grade student at IDEA Carver College Prep. “Not all students at other schools have the opportunity to take an AP course, so I feel fortunate that I have this opportunity at IDEA.”

Today, IDEA operates 14 schools serving more than five thousand students across San Antonio—the Eastside, the Westside, the Southside, and the Northeast. Each IDEA San Antonio student is preparing for success to and through college, and IDEA staff and families work together to ensure 100% college acceptance, matriculation, and—eventually—graduation!

IDEA’s core college prep curriculum consists of 100% AP courses, beginning in ninth grade with AP Human Geography. In order to gain college credit for an AP course, a student must receive a three or higher on their AP exam. In order to be considered an AP scholar at IDEA, a student must receive a grade of three or higher on at least three AP exams.

AP courses also offer college admissions officers a consistent measure of course rigor across high schools, districts, states, and countries—because all AP teachers, no matter where they’re teaching, have to teach a curriculum that meets college standards. When admissions officers see “AP” on students’ transcripts, they have a good understanding of what a student experienced in a particular class and how well the course prepared the student for the rigor of college.

As IDEA has expanded AP access to more students, AP passing rates have also increased throughout the network. Not only do IDEA’s high-quality teachers find innovative ways to teach students challenging content, but they also differentiate the lessons for students at different learning levels.

“What’s special about AP is that every student is being pushed in the classroom,” said Constantine Polites, principal at IDEA South Flores College Prep. “These students are being prepared for the rigors of college and I know that every student will reap the benefits of AP for All.”

About Michelle

Michelle moved to San Antonio eight years ago and yet still feels like a newcomer. She is rather smitten with the Alamo City. She and her husband met at Texas A&M and started their marriage in Minnesota. After six years of very cold winters, they returned to Texas. Michelle has two kids (12 and 9), along with a very quirky rescue dog and two rather cute guinea pigs. A former corporate food scientist turned part-time yoga instructor, she still takes her food very seriously—she just doesn’t get paid for it anymore. She is fueled by tea, cold brew coffee, yoga, dog walking, books and quickly googling answers to her kids eleventy million questions.